I know this is not a WWII airplane, but I wanted to share this and didn't know where else to post. The Airplane I am attempting made the first Heavier than air powered flight in the state of Iowa on May 10th 1910. I planned on having it ready for the 100th Anniversary but will miss it by a few weeks due to finding additional info at the last minute.

I had several ideas of how to do the wings. All those spars had to be replicated and MAN did he use a lot. My first thought was to use a comb and vac over it. First attempt was fair, but too much warping. Then I was thinking about vac forming over a curved surface and painting the spars (as you can see from the pics, they were VERY thin). Last night while eating pizza I looked at the 2 litre pop bottle I was drinking from (with a glass, I'm not THAT far gone, YET!!) I thought 'that's the ticket'. Printed off a copy of the framework on some buff paper, sprayed some adhesive on the inside surface of the pop bottle, laminated the paper inside, sprayed with a coat of Dullcoat and I am VERY pleased with the results. Still need to add the control surface spars (they are heavier) and a couple of cross-members and I'm there.

Got the fuselage all rigged, used 2# test fishing line, toothpicks and CA. Showed my 2 year old granddaugher the wheels and she thought they were so neat. Before I knew it I had something resembling a crushed spider. Also pics of the parts I will use to make the engine.

I guess a little history is in order here. The airplane was built by Burlington native Art Hartman just from looking at photos of a Bleriot monoplane. Constructed of wood, it had a two-cylinder Detroit engine. It used wing warping for control. His first few attempts were unsuccessful. After some modifications, on May 10 1910 at the Municiple golf course the plane took off for about 100 ft at 10 ft altitude. In 1939 Art rebuilt the plane using metal tubing, aileron control and a three-cylinder Szekely engine. He flew this airplane at airshows until 1956 when he sold the plane to Pioneer Village Museum in Mendon, NE. It is on display still. This re-built aircraft is NAMED a 1910 Hartman but it is an entirely different airplane than the original. I will post photos of both in the future.

Pics of the paddle blades for the prop being worked on. I started with a wood prop from an old Piper Cub kit, added some card to make it longer and wider. Engine is modified from 'O' scale railroad accessory aircompressor.